Chapter 2: A Quiet Kindness

Valen Holloway woke to the sound of something metal hitting the floor downstairs.

He opened his eyes.

A second later came his father’s voice.

“I meant to do that.”

Valen stared at the ceiling.

He did not believe him.

Morning light slipped through the curtains as he pushed himself out of bed and reached for his glasses.

By the time Valen made it downstairs, his father was already sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by notes, tiny metal tools, and the pieces of what looked like a half-finished magical device.

His father adjusted his glasses without looking up.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

His mother stood near the counter, already dressed for the day, her long braids tied back and a cup in one hand.

She looked at Valen.

Then at the clock.

Then back at Valen.

“You’re going to be late.”

Valen immediately looked at the clock.

“I’m not late.”

“Not yet.”

Valen father glanced up from his work.

“That distinction becomes less useful with every passing minute.”

Valen sighed.

This was normal.

His mother could walk into a battlefield and stay completely calm.

His father could spend hours taking apart a healing device just to understand why one rune was behaving differently than expected.

And somehow Valen had inherited the ability to worry about both things.

Valen finished the last of his breakfast and gathered his books from the edge of the table.

Valen mother glanced at the stack in his arms.

“You packed all of those?”

Valen looked down.

“…Maybe.”

His father finally looked away from the device scattered across the table.

“It’s the second day.”

“I know.”

“You’re carrying enough notes for the second year.”

Valen adjusted the books against his chest.

“I like being prepared.”

Valen mother smiled slightly.

“You like being overprepared.”

Valen opened his mouth, thought better of it, and headed toward the door.

“Have a good day,” His father called after him.

“And Valen.”

He stopped and looked back.

His mother’s expression softened.

“You don’t need to know everything yet.”

Valen gave a small nod.

“I know that Miss Amara and sir Darius.”

His father smiled

“Next time you can just say see you later father and mother.” he said laughing.

The morning streets were already busy by the time Valen left home.

Shopkeepers opened enchanted shutters with small flashes of mana. Rune-lit signs faded as the sunlight grew brighter, and students in Celestial Academy uniforms moved through the streets in small groups.

Valen walked mostly by himself.

He didn’t mind.

Mostly.

By the time Celestial Academy came into view, its courtyards were already filling with students.

Valen adjusted his grip on his books and stepped through the gates.

He kept to the quieter side of the walkway.

He wasn’t trying to avoid anyone exactly.

He just preferred not to give anyone a reason to notice him.

A familiar voice carried across the courtyard.

Valen glanced over and spotted Starloris walking beside Zephar, already talking with enough energy for both of them.

Starloris had his notebook open while walking, which Valen quietly decided seemed dangerous for several reasons.

A small smile tugged at Valen's mouth as he watched them. He had spoken to Starloris a little yesterday, enough to recognize him, but not enough to know whether walking over would be normal or painfully awkward.

Before Valen could look away, Starloris noticed him.

"Morning, Valen!" Starloris called, lifting one hand while somehow keeping his notebook open with the other.

Valen hesitated for half a second before giving a small wave back. "Morning."

Zephar gave Valen a small wave.

"Morning. Sorry about him," he said, nodding toward Starloris. "He's been like this since we got here."

Starloris looked over. "I'm standing right here."

"I know."

Valen let out a quiet laugh before he could stop himself.

"He doesn't seem that bad," he said.

Zephar looked at him. "You know him for a day."

Valen glanced toward Starloris, who was already flipping to another page in his notebook.

"That might be enough."

Valen gave them both a small smile before continuing toward the Academy entrance.

He had only taken a few steps when a faint fluttering sound came from the grass nearby.

Valen slowed.

He glanced toward the Academy entrance.

The first bell hadn't rung yet, but it would soon. He hesitated.

The flutter came again, weaker this time.

Valen looked back toward the grass.

Someone else would probably notice it. Someone else could stop and check.

He glanced around the courtyard.

No one was nearby.

Valen looked back toward the grass.

He let out a quiet breath.

"Fine."

He adjusted the books against his chest and stepped off the walkway toward the grass.

Whatever was making that sound clearly wasn't going to get help unless he checked.

A few steps into the grass, Valen finally spotted it.

A small blue-gray bird was half-hidden near the base of a low hedge, one wing stretched awkwardly beside it.

It tried to move when Valen approached, but only managed another weak flutter.

Valen's expression tightened.

He slowed as he got closer.

"Easy," he said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The bird gave another weak flutter, trying to pull itself farther beneath the hedge.

Valen stopped a short distance away and crouched instead of reaching for it.

"Okay... that wing definitely isn't right."

His eyes moved over the bird carefully, looking for anything else that seemed injured.

He stayed crouched, watching it for another moment.

"Can you move it at all?"

The bird only trembled and tried to tuck the injured wing closer to its body.

Valen's eyes softened.

"Right. Stupid question."

He carefully set his books down in the grass beside him, then slowly held out one hand.

"I'm going to help, okay?"

A faint green glow began to gather around his fingers.

Valen focused on the injured wing, watching the way it rested against the bird's side.

He knew what he was supposed to do.

Guide the mana into the damaged tissue. Encourage the body to repair itself. Don't force it. Don't rush it.

Simple in theory.

His hand trembled slightly.

"Too much could make it worse," he whispered.

The green light around his fingers flickered.

Valen swallowed and tried to steady his breathing.

"So... not too much."

His father would have called it Accelerated Cellular Repair.

His mother usually just called it healing.

Darius his father had spent years making sure Valen understood the difference between repairing a body and simply forcing mana into it. Healing Magic did not create something from nothing. It encouraged the body to do what it already knew how to do, only faster.

That also meant there were limits.

A body still needed energy. Blood still had to come from somewhere. Dead tissue did not simply decide to become alive again because a healer wanted it to.

And if the healer pushed too hard, the body could be overwhelmed by the very magic meant to help it.

Valen drew in a slow breath and let only a little more mana flow from his hand.

The green light settled around the bird's wing, faint and steady.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the bird shifted.

Its injured wing twitched once, then pulled closer against its body.

Valen blinked.

The bird pushed itself upright and gave a small, uneven hop through the grass.

A relieved smile crossed his face.

"Okay... good."

He let the magic fade before he could push it any further.

Valen watched the bird carefully as it tested the injured wing again.

It stretched the feathers outward, hesitated, then gave them a few small flaps.

Not perfect.

But working.

The bird hopped forward once, then again, before lifting itself just far enough to reach one of the lower branches of the hedge.

Valen stayed crouched until it settled there.

Only then did the tension leave his shoulders.

"There."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"That's enough."

His hand lowered into the grass.

The green light around his fingers disappeared, leaving behind a faint tingling sensation in his palm.

Valen flexed his fingers.

He could have tried to heal more.

Probably.

But probably was exactly the kind of word his mother hated hearing when someone else's health was involved.

Stopping was safer.

And the bird could move again.

For now, that was enough.

Valen started to stand.

A faint wave of dizziness rolled through him.

He caught himself with one hand against the ground and waited for it to pass.

"Right..."

His fingers still tingled from the mana he had used.

Not much.

But enough to remind him that healing always took something from the healer too.

Then the scraping came again.

Closer this time.

Valen slowly looked toward the hedge.

For a moment, all he saw were shifting leaves.

Then something moved.

A small scaled hand pulled back behind the stone wall, followed by the quick flick of a thin tail.

Valen froze.

That was definitely not a bird.

The Academy bell rang.

Valen jumped.

He looked toward the wall one last time, but whatever had been there was already gone.

"Great."

He grabbed his books and hurried toward the Academy entrance.

By the time Valen reached the classroom, his breathing had barely settled.

His thoughts had not.

A scaled hand.

A tail.

His mother had taught him enough about the other races of the world to know humans were far from the only people living in it.

Elves, dwarves, beastfolk, kobolds and so on.

Different appearances. Different cultures. Different relationships with magic.

Amara Holloway had always told him that a healer needed to understand more than human anatomy. Someday, the person depending on him might not be human at all.

Valen adjusted his glasses.

Small. Scales. Tail...

His stomach tightened.

A kobold?

Valen slipped through the classroom door just as the second bell finished ringing.

Professor Veyra Lumielle looked up from her desk.

Valen stopped.

For one horrifying second, he considered apologizing even though he had technically made it on time.

Veyra glanced toward his seat.

"Sit down, Valen."

"Right."

He hurried over, still thinking about the scaled hand disappearing behind the wall.

Professor Veyra waited until the last few conversations faded before stepping away from her desk.

"Yesterday, we focused on control," she said. "Today, we're going to take one step backward."

A few confused looks passed through the classroom.

Veyra lifted one hand.

"Before you can control mana, shape it, or turn it into a spell, you first have to recognize that it's there."

A faint green light appeared above her palm.

"Most beginning mages think casting starts when mana leaves the body."

The light hovered between her fingers for another moment before disappearing.

"It doesn't."

Veyra lowered her hand.

"Magic begins with sensing."

Starloris immediately reached for his notebook.

Valen almost smiled.

Almost.

His thoughts were still somewhere outside, following a scaled hand and a thin tail behind a stone wall.

Professor Veyra continued.

"Every living person in this room possesses mana. Most of you have been aware of your own for years, even if you never had a name for the feeling."

She placed a hand lightly against her chest.

"Your own mana is the easiest to recognize because you are surrounded by it constantly. It moves through you so naturally that, with enough familiarity, you stop noticing it."

Veyra looked across the room.

"Think about your breathing. You are doing it right now, but most of you were not thinking about it until I mentioned it."

A few students shifted in their seats.

"The same principle applies to mana."

Valen understood that much.

His own mana had always felt less like something he carried and more like something that was simply there.

A quiet warmth beneath the skin.

Something that responded when he reached for it.

"Casting begins when you deliberately gather that mana," Veyra said. "Then you control its movement. Then you shape it toward a purpose."

She turned toward the board and wrote three words.

Gather. Control. Shape.

"These are not three different kinds of magic. They are three parts of the same process."

Veyra tapped the first word.

"Gathering means drawing mana toward the place where you intend to use it."

Her finger moved to the second.

"Control determines how much mana you release and how steadily you release it."

Then the third.

"Shape gives that mana function."

A small sphere of green light appeared above her palm again.

"This is gathered mana under control."

The sphere stretched into a thin ribbon.

"This is shaped mana."

It curled around her wrist before separating into several smaller strands.

"The more complicated the result, the more control you need to maintain it."

The strands collapsed back into harmless sparks.

"But none of that matters if you cannot properly sense what you are working with."

Valen leaned forward slightly.

That part caught his attention despite himself.

Professor Veyra paced slowly between the front desks.

"Mana Sensing is the ability to consciously recognize mana beyond your own."

She gestured toward the students.

"That can mean another mage."

Then toward one of the glowing rune-lamps along the wall.

"An enchanted object."

Then toward the window.

"Or a spell being used somewhere nearby."

Starloris's pencil was moving rapidly.

Zephar glanced sideways at him.

"You're going to tear the paper."

Starloris ignored him.

Veyra either did not hear them or had already decided that stopping Starloris from taking notes was a battle unworthy of her career.

"Mana does not feel identical from one source to another," she continued.

That earned more attention.

"Affinity, technique, emotional state, experience, and even the way someone naturally controls their mana can affect how it is perceived."

She raised her hand again.

The green light returned.

"My mana will not feel exactly like yours."

Her eyes moved across the room.

"A Fire mage may feel warm, sharp, or active to someone sensing them. Water Magic may feel smooth or flowing. Earth Magic may feel heavy or steady."

She paused.

"Those descriptions are not universal."

Valen noticed several students stop writing.

"Mana Sensing is not a second pair of eyes. You are not literally feeling heat when you sense Fire Magic."

Veyra closed her fingers around the light.

"Your mind is interpreting something it does not have ordinary senses for."

That made Valen think of his father.

Darius Holloway would probably have spent another twenty minutes explaining what part of the brain was responsible for interpreting mana.

And then another twenty explaining why nobody had fully proven it yet.

Veyra continued before Valen could get lost in the thought.

"Two students may describe the same mana differently and still both be correct."

Starloris's hand shot up.

Veyra looked at him.

"Yes, Starloris?"

"If everyone experiences it differently, how do we know we're sensing the same thing?"

Several students looked toward him.

Valen did too.

Veyra smiled faintly.

"Consistency."

Starloris blinked.

"If you sense Zephar's mana today, tomorrow, and a week from now, the details may shift slightly, but the core impression should remain recognizable."

Zephar leaned back in his chair.

"So eventually people can recognize someone by their mana?"

"With training," Veyra said.

Starloris wrote that down immediately.

Veyra's expression became more serious.

"But sensing has limits."

The room quieted again.

"Distance weakens your perception. Obstacles interfere. Large amounts of mana can drown out smaller sources. Celestial Academy itself is filled with active enchantments, barriers, rune systems, training grounds, and hundreds of mages."

She gestured around the classroom.

"For a beginner, trying to sense one specific source inside this Academy can feel like trying to identify one voice in a crowded hall."

Valen's eyes moved toward the window.

Hundreds of sources.

That made sense.

It also meant whatever he had seen outside could disappear into the Academy's background mana very easily.

"Strong sensing does not mean you always know exactly what you are detecting," Veyra said.

"You may recognize that mana is present without knowing who it belongs to. You may know its direction but not its distance. You may detect a spell without understanding what the spell does."

She paused.

"And Mana Sensing does not allow you to read thoughts."

A student near the back lowered his hand.

Veyra stared at him for half a second.

"No."

A few quiet laughs moved through the room.

Then she returned to the lesson.

"Experienced mages learn to filter."

The rune-lamps dimmed slightly.

"Instead of trying to feel everything at once, they narrow their attention."

Veyra pointed toward one lamp.

"One object."

Then toward the class.

"One person."

Then toward the open window.

"One direction."

The lights brightened again.

"Today, that is what you are going to practice."

Valen straightened.

Veyra stepped back toward the center of the room.

"You are not casting."

She looked slowly across the class.

"You are not gathering mana."

Her gaze briefly passed Starloris.

"You are definitely not experimenting."

Starloris slowly put his pencil down.

Zephar covered a laugh.

"You are going to sit still," Veyra continued, "quiet your own mana as much as possible, and learn to notice what is already around you."

She held out one hand.

"Start with yourself."

Then she pointed toward the person sitting beside each student.

"After that, try to find one other source."

Valen glanced toward the window again.

For the first time since entering the classroom, the strange presence outside did not feel like something he had to ignore.

Professor Veyra had just given him a way to look for it.

Professor Veyra gave the class a moment to settle.

“Close your eyes if it helps,” she said. “You are not trying to force anything to happen. The mana is already there. Your job is to notice it.”

Valen rested his hands against the desk.

Around him, chairs creaked as students shifted into more comfortable positions.

He closed his eyes.

At first, there was nothing unusual.

His own breathing.

The faint rustle of paper.

Someone tapping a foot beneath a desk.

Then Valen pushed those sounds aside.

Start with yourself.

He focused inward.

His mana was easy to find.

A soft warmth rested beneath his skin, steady and familiar. It seemed strongest around his chest before spreading outward through his arms and fingertips.

Valen resisted the instinct to gather it.

That was the difficult part.

Whenever he consciously reached for his mana, years of practice told him to do something with it.

Heal.

Shape.

Release.

Instead, he left it alone.

He simply observed.

“There is a difference between sensing mana and controlling it,” Professor Veyra said from somewhere at the front of the room. “If you feel your mana responding, let it settle.”

Valen slowly exhaled.

The warmth quieted.

Then he reached beyond himself.

For several seconds, he felt nothing.

His brow tightened.

Maybe he was trying too hard.

That was usually his problem.

Valen loosened his shoulders and tried again.

Something appeared at the edge of his awareness.

Warm.

Sharper than his own mana.

Restless.

Valen opened one eye.

Zephar sat a few desks away with his eyes closed.

Fire.

He closed his eye again.

Knowing whose mana it belonged to probably made recognizing it easier, but the difference was unmistakable once he knew what to look for.

Zephar's mana did not actually burn him.

Still, Valen's mind interpreted it like standing near a fire on a cold day.

Heat without heat.

Energy constantly threatening to move.

Valen shifted his attention.

Another presence sat near Zephar.

He expected something faint.

Instead, he hesitated.

Starloris Astren's mana was...

Valen frowned.

Strange.

It was quieter than Zephar's, but harder to ignore once he found it.

The sensation flickered.

For a moment it felt soft and distant.

Then it sharpened.

Then faded again.

Valen tried to focus on it, but every time he thought he understood the shape of it, the feeling changed slightly.

That must be the purple mana from yesterday.

He almost opened his eyes.

Professor Veyra's voice stopped him.

“Do not chase every interesting thing you sense.”

Valen suspected that warning had been aimed at someone very specific.

From somewhere nearby, Starloris stopped moving.

Valen nearly smiled.

He pushed farther outward.

The classroom became crowded.

Dozens of faint impressions brushed against his awareness.

Students.

The steady hum of the rune-lamps.

Something stronger beneath the floor, probably one of the Academy's larger enchantments.

For a moment, it became too much.

Everything overlapped.

Valen remembered Veyra's instructions.

One direction.

His thoughts returned to the courtyard.

The hedge.

The scaled hand.

The tail.

Valen turned his attention toward the windows.

Slowly, the other sources began to fade into the background.

The lamps.

The students.

Zephar.

Even Starloris's strange flickering mana.

Valen focused farther away.

Nothing.

He waited.

Then...

There.

His eyes tightened beneath his closed lids.

A faint presence.

Small.

Weak enough that he might have missed it if he hadn't been searching.

It was somewhere outside.

Valen concentrated.

The sensation shifted.

Not disappearing.

Moving.

His heartbeat quickened.

It's still here.

He tried to narrow the direction.

Past the window.

Lower than most of the students walking outside.

Near the edge of the courtyard.

Valen leaned forward slightly.

Just a little more.

He could almost...

“Valen?”

His eyes snapped open.

Starloris was looking at him from the next row over.

“You okay?”

Valen blinked.

“What?”

“You looked really serious.”

Valen immediately turned toward the window.

He reached for the strange presence again.

Nothing.

The classroom's mana crashed back into his awareness all at once.

Students.

Runes.

Enchantments.

Too many sources.

The faint signal was gone.

Valen stared through the glass.

Again.

He had lost it again.

Then another mana signature caught his attention.

Lighter than Zephar’s.

Quick.

Unsteady.

Not weak. Just difficult to pin down.

Valen frowned.

The sensation seemed to shift every time he focused on it, like it had already moved somewhere else before his mind caught up.

He glanced toward it.

Kisen Crowe sat two rows over with a card balanced between his fingers.

Professor Veyra looked at him.

“Kisen.”

Kisen froze.

The card vanished into his sleeve.

“I was sensing.”

“You were shuffling.”

“I can do two things.”

Veyra stared at him.

Kisen slowly placed both hands on the desk.

“Apparently not.”

A few students laughed.

Valen looked back toward the window, still faintly amused.

Kisen’s mana made more sense now.

Quick.

Slippery.

Difficult to follow.

The faint signal outside was still gone.

“Valen?”

Starloris was still watching him.

Valen lowered his voice. “I thought I sensed something outside.”

Starloris immediately looked toward the window.

“What kind of something?”

“I don’t know.”

That answer clearly did not satisfy him.

Valen could practically see the questions forming.

Before Starloris could unleash any of them, Professor Veyra spoke.

“Eyes forward.”

Starloris turned around.

Slowly.

Veyra folded her arms.

“The exercise is not improved by investigating the courtyard from your seat.”

A quiet laugh moved through the room.

Starloris picked up his pencil again.

Valen looked down at his desk.

Maybe he had imagined it.

Except he had seen the hand.

And the tail.

Professor Veyra moved back toward the front of the classroom.

“That is enough for your first attempt.”

Several students relaxed immediately.

Kisen leaned back in his chair.

“I sensed enlightenment.”

Veyra looked at him.

“You sensed the rune-lamp.”

Kisen considered that.

“Close enough.”

Zephar snorted.

Veyra ignored them.

“What matters today is not how far you sensed or how many sources you found. Recognition comes before accuracy.”

She gestured toward the room.

“Some of you probably felt nothing beyond your own mana.”

A few students shifted awkwardly.

“That is normal.”

Valen looked up.

“Others may have noticed several sources but struggled to separate them. Also normal.”

Her eyes passed briefly toward Valen.

“And some of you may have sensed something without understanding what it was.”

Valen hesitated.

Then raised his hand.

Veyra nodded toward him.

“If you sense something outside the classroom, how can you tell whether it’s actually a person?”

The room quieted slightly.

Veyra considered the question.

“At your level?”

Valen waited.

“You usually can’t.”

His expression fell a little.

“The Academy contains hundreds of active magical systems,” Veyra continued. “Barriers, transportation circles, training equipment, enchanted objects, students, faculty, and whatever Professor Elden is currently doing beneath the eastern tower.”

Several students glanced at one another.

Veyra continued as though that final example required no explanation.

“A faint mana source outside could be a person. It could also be an enchantment, an animal with mana, or residual magic from a spell.”

Valen glanced toward the window again.

“So I wouldn’t know unless I got closer?”

“Or became better at sensing.”

Valen nodded slowly.

That was not quite the answer he wanted.

But it was an answer.

Professor Veyra looked toward the clock.

“That will be enough for now. You have twenty minutes before we continue.”

Valen gathered his books more slowly.

He looked toward the window again.

“Twenty minutes.”

Veyra raised her voice slightly.

“And twenty minutes means twenty minutes.”

Kisen paused near the door.

“So twenty-five?”

“No.”

“Twenty-two?”

“Kisen.”

“Twenty it is.”

Probably enough time to check the area where he had sensed the strange presence.

He slipped his books beneath one arm and headed for the door.

A few seconds later, footsteps followed him.

Valen glanced back.

Starloris was there.

Valen stopped.

Starloris stopped too.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m not.”

Valen stared at him.

Starloris pointed vaguely down the hallway.

“I also happen to be walking this way.”

“You don’t know where I’m going.”

“That’s why I’m following you.”

Valen blinked.

At least he was honest eventually.

Another set of footsteps approached.

Zephar joined them.

Valen looked at him.

Zephar shrugged.

“If Starloris is investigating something strange, someone should probably make sure he doesn’t touch it.”

“I don’t touch everything.”

Zephar looked at him.

Starloris thought about it.

“Fine. Most things.”

Valen sighed and started walking again.

Then he heard another set of footsteps.

He stopped.

Slowly, he turned around.

Kisen stood a few steps behind them with his hands in his pockets.

Valen stared at him.

Kisen stared back.

“What?”

“Why are you following us?”

Kisen glanced at Starloris.

Then Zephar.

Then back at Valen.

“I was bored.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s usually enough.”

Valen looked at the three of them.

This morning, he had barely been sure whether saying hello to Starloris would be awkward.

Now all three of them were following him through the Academy because he had mentioned seeing a tail.

He wasn’t entirely sure how that had happened.

“Fine,” Valen said.

Starloris smiled.

“So where are we going?”

Valen pointed toward the courtyard.

“The place where I saw it.”

Starloris immediately started walking faster.

Valen grabbed the back of his uniform coat.

“Walking.”

Starloris looked back at him.

“I am walking.”

“You were about to run.”

“I was going to walk quickly.”

Zephar passed them.

“He was going to run.”

Kisen nodded.

“Definitely run.”

Starloris looked betrayed.

Valen let go of his coat.

For some reason, he was smiling.

“So where exactly did you see this lizard?” Kisen asked.

“Kobold,” Valen corrected quietly.

Kisen lifted both hands.

“Right. Kobold. Much more dignified.”

Zephar glanced at him.

“You’re going to get us attacked by something someday.”

“Only someday?”

Valen ignored them and pointed toward the far side of the courtyard.

“Near the hedge. By the stone wall.”

Valen slowed.

The courtyard was busier now than it had been that morning. Students crossed the walkways in small groups, and voices carried between the stone buildings.

The hedge looked completely ordinary.

So did the wall.

Valen frowned.

“It was here.”

Starloris crouched near the grass.

“Did it leave anything?”

Zephar looked down at him.

“What exactly are you expecting?”

“I don’t know. Footprints. Scales. Evidence.”

Kisen leaned against the stone wall nearby, only half paying attention.

“A tiny sign that says ‘kobold was here.’”

Starloris looked up.

“That would actually be useful.”

Valen stepped closer to the hedge.

“The bird was right around here.”

He searched the grass carefully.

Nothing.

No scales.

No footprints.

No movement.

His stomach tightened.

Maybe it had already left.

Then Kisen’s voice changed.

“Uh...”

Valen looked over.

Kisen was no longer smiling.

He was staring past them toward one of the stone pillars farther down the courtyard.

“What?” Zephar asked.

Kisen lifted one hand and pointed.

“I think your kobold is over there.”

Everyone turned.

A small hooded figure stood partially hidden behind the pillar.

Valen froze.

For the first time, he could actually see it.

Short.

Scaled face.

Pointed ears beneath the hood.

A thin tail barely visible behind one leg.

And its eyes were fixed directly on him.

Starloris straightened.

“Whoa.”

The kobold flinched.

Then vanished behind the pillar.

Starloris immediately stepped forward.

Zephar caught the back of his coat.

“No.”

“I wasn’t doing anything.”

“You were about to chase it.”

“I was going to investigate.”

“At running speed.”

Kisen stepped away from the wall.

“So.”

Valen looked at him.

Kisen nodded toward the pillar.

“Definitely not a lizard.”

Valen stared at him.

Kisen sighed.

“Yes. Kobold.”

Then, before anyone could stop him, he started walking toward the pillar.

Zephar blinked.

“Kisen?”

“What?”

“You’re just going over there?”

Kisen glanced back at them.

“That was generally the plan.”

Starloris immediately took a step after him.

Zephar caught his shoulder.

“Not all of us.”

“But he gets to go?”

“Kisen looks slightly less likely to scare it.”

Starloris looked offended.

Valen barely heard them.

His attention stayed on the kobold.

The small figure had not moved.

It watched Kisen approach from beneath the hood, body tense and ready to react.

Kisen slowed when he got closer.

For once, there was no card between his fingers.

No joke.

He kept his hands where the kobold could see them.

“Hey.”

The kobold’s pointed ears shifted beneath the hood.

Kisen stopped several steps away.

“You’ve been watching my friend.”

Valen’s eyes widened slightly.

Friend?

Kisen pointed back toward him.

The kobold’s gaze immediately followed.

Straight to Valen.

Kisen noticed.

“So it is him.”

The kobold said nothing.

Valen swallowed.

Starloris leaned toward Zephar.

“It’s definitely looking at Valen.”

“I noticed.”

Valen stepped forward.

The kobold stiffened.

He stopped immediately.

“It’s okay,” Valen said.

The words came out softer than he intended.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the kobold slowly stepped out from behind the pillar.

It was even smaller than Valen had expected, barely reaching his waist. A worn cloak hung loosely around its body, and dull scales covered its narrow face.

Its eyes never left him.

Kisen glanced between them.

“You two know each other?”

“No,” Valen said.

The kobold tilted its head.

Then its eyes dropped toward Valen’s hands.

Valen followed its gaze.

His fingers.

The same hand he had used to heal the bird.

The kobold looked back up at him.

“Green light.”

Valen froze.

Starloris stopped whispering.

Even Kisen’s expression changed.

The kobold pointed at Valen’s hand.

“Green light.”

Valen’s stomach tightened.

It had seen him.

It had watched him heal the bird.

The kobold’s claws curled around the edge of its cloak.

“Humans.”

Its voice became quicker.

“Hunters came. Found home. Mother fight.”

Valen’s expression tightened.

“They attacked your home?”

The kobold nodded rapidly.

“Mother make us run. Hunters take her.”

“Take her where?”

“Old stone place.”

“Ruins?” Zephar asked.

The kobold looked toward him.

“Yes. Forest ruins.”

Starloris stepped closer.

“How many hunters?”

The kobold stared at him for a moment, clearly struggling to understand the question.

Starloris tried again.

“How many humans?”

The kobold shook its head.

“Many.”

Valen looked at the others.

This had suddenly become much bigger than something strange hiding around the Academy.

“Is your mother hurt?”

The kobold’s ears lowered.

“Vekra nar.”

Valen understood neither word.

The kobold saw the confusion on his face and forced the Common words out.

“Mother hurt. Bad.”

Valen’s stomach tightened.

“Then why did you come here?”

The kobold pointed at his hand again.

“Green light.”

Valen looked down.

“You came looking for a healer?”

The kobold hesitated.

Then shook its head.

“Looking for vara.”

“Healer,” Valen guessed.

The kobold nodded.

“Vara woman. Green light. Help vek before.”

Valen froze.

“A woman?”

Another fast nod.

“Long hair. Green light. Strong.”

Something about that description made Valen’s chest tighten.

Before he could ask another question, the kobold suddenly looked toward the Academy.

Its ears twitched.

Then it backed away.

“Wait,” Valen said. “Who was she?”

The kobold shook its head.

“No time.”

It pointed toward the distant edge of the Academy grounds.

“Forest ruins. Mother there.”

Then toward Valen.

“Please.”

The word came out quieter than everything else.

“Ket her.”

Valen didn’t know what ket meant.

But he didn’t need to.

Help her.

Valen swallowed.

“Wait. What’s your name?”

The kobold hesitated.

“Rikk.”

Then he turned.

“Wait!”

Valen moved after him.

Too late.

The small figure darted through the hedge, slipped behind the stone wall, and disappeared.

Starloris ran to the opening.

“He’s fast.”

Zephar joined him.

“Do you see him?”

“No.”

Kisen looked toward the path.

“So... are we just ignoring the part where someone kidnapped his mother?”

Valen barely heard him.

His thoughts were stuck somewhere else.

Back inside the classroom, Professor Veyra looked over the students.

Four seats were empty.

She sighed.

“Everyone appears to be here... except Starloris, Zephar, Kisen, and Valen.”

A few students glanced toward the empty desks.

Veyra looked toward the courtyard windows.

Then her expression shifted slightly.

“Actually, this is useful.”

The class quieted.

“If you want to locate someone by mana, you first need to know what you’re searching for.”

She closed her eyes.

“Pay attention.”

A soft green glow gathered around her.

Then it expanded.

Not like a spell being cast.

More like a presence spreading through the Academy.

Outside, Valen suddenly stopped walking.

A wave of mana passed over him.

Zephar straightened.

Starloris’s eyes widened.

Kisen slowly looked back toward the Academy.

“Uh...”

The green presence continued past them.

For a brief moment, Veyra sensed five mana signatures.

Four familiar.

One small and unfamiliar.

Then the fifth vanished.

Veyra opened her eyes.

Her expression sharpened.

Outside, Kisen swallowed.

“I think we might be in trouble.”

Veyra’s expression hardened.

The fifth mana signature had disappeared too quickly.

That bothered her.

She turned toward the class.

“Stay here.”

Then she was gone.

Outside, the four students were still standing near the hedge.

No one was joking now.

Valen looked toward the path where the kobold had vanished.

Starloris was unusually quiet.

Kisen had his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground.

Zephar looked worse.

His jaw was tight.

His hands were clenched.

“Hunters,” he muttered.

Valen looked at him.

Zephar’s voice sharpened.

“They attacked their home, hurt his mother, and dragged her away.”

There was more anger in his voice than Valen had heard before.

Before anyone could answer, a rush of green mana swept over them.

Then Veyra appeared at the end of the path.

She was moving fast.

Much faster than usual.

Her eyes immediately searched the area.

Then landed on the four of them.

“Are you hurt?”

They all froze.

Veyra looked from one student to the next.

“Did something happen?”

For once, none of them answered right away.

That only made her expression more serious.

Kisen stepped forward first.

“We got distracted.”

Veyra’s eyes narrowed.

“By what?”

Kisen did not hesitate.

“A bird.”

Valen looked at him.

Zephar looked at him.

Kisen kept going.

“Injured. Very dramatic. Emotional situation.”

Veyra glanced toward Valen.

Valen immediately looked away.

Starloris caught on.

“It was actually pretty serious.”

Kisen gave him the smallest sideways glance.

Starloris continued.

“Valen healed it earlier, so we came back to check on it.”

That part, technically, was true.

Veyra looked between them.

“And that required all four of you?”

Starloris nodded far too quickly.

“Team effort.”

Zephar muttered under his breath.

“Terrible team effort.”

Kisen elbowed him.

Veyra’s gaze lingered on them.

For a second, Valen thought she might push harder.

Instead, she looked toward the hedge.

“The mana signature I sensed with you disappeared.”

Kisen’s expression almost changed.

“Very magical bird,” he said.

Veyra looked back at him.

Kisen continued.

“Maybe Valen poured too much mana into it when he healed it.”

Valen’s head snapped toward him.

“I did not.”

Starloris immediately jumped in.

“He was being careful.”

Kisen nodded.

“Very careful. Possibly still accidentally magical.”

Zephar rubbed a hand over his face.

Veyra stared at all four of them.

She did not look convinced.

“Inside.”

No one argued.

Back in the classroom, Veyra returned to the front as the four slipped into their seats.

“Since our missing students gave us an unexpected demonstration,” she said, “we’ll finish with one more part of Mana Sensing.”

Kisen sank slightly in his chair.

Veyra ignored him.

“What I used outside was an expanded sensing field.”

A faint green glow surrounded her.

“Instead of searching for one source, an experienced mage can spread their awareness across a larger area.”

The green mana slowly expanded through the room.

Valen felt it immediately.

Not pressure exactly.

More like suddenly realizing someone was standing behind you.

“Range comes at a cost,” Veyra continued. “The farther you extend your senses, the less detail you receive.”

The glow faded.

“You may know someone is there without knowing exactly who they are.”

Valen thought about the fifth presence she had sensed.

The kobold.

Veyra looked across the class.

“And mana can disappear from your senses for several reasons. Distance. Interference. A source leaving your range.”

She paused.

“Or someone deliberately hiding it.”

Valen looked toward Starloris.

Starloris was already looking at him.

Neither spoke.

When the final bell rang, the four waited until most of the classroom had emptied.

Zephar spoke first.

“We’re helping her.”

No hesitation.

Kisen leaned against a desk.

“For once, I agree with the angry one.”

“I’m not angry.”

“You look angry.”

“I am angry.”

“Exactly.”

Starloris turned toward Valen.

“What do you think?”

Valen looked down at his hands.

Helping an injured bird had been one thing.

This was different.

Hunters.

Ruins.

Someone badly hurt.

Someone waiting for a healer.

His stomach twisted.

Then he remembered the kobold’s face.

Please.

Valen lifted his head.

“We help.”

Starloris smiled.

Not his usual excited grin.

Something smaller.

Serious.

Zephar nodded.

Kisen pushed himself away from the desk.

“Well.”

He looked between them.

“I guess we’re going to the ruins.”

Valen exhaled slowly.

“Should we go home first?” Valen asked. “Our parents will worry.”

“If we go home first, we lose hours,” Zephar said.

Valen thought about Rikk’s mother. Injured. Captured. Waiting.

“Then we don’t go home.”

The four left the classroom together.

For a few minutes, none of them said much.

Outside, the afternoon sun had already started sinking lower over the Academy walls.

Valen looked toward the road leading back into town.

Home was that way.

His mother would probably already be expecting him.

He stopped.

Zephar noticed first.

“You changing your mind?”

Valen shook his head.

“No.”

He looked toward the opposite path.

“If Rikk’s mother is hurt, we shouldn’t waste time.”

Starloris adjusted the strap of his bag.

“Then we go now.”

Kisen sighed.

“There goes my peaceful afternoon.”

Zephar glanced at him.

“You could stay.”

Kisen immediately started walking.

“I didn’t say I was staying.”

Valen followed.

One by one, they left the Academy grounds behind.

As they walked, Starloris suddenly looked between the three of them.

Valen noticed too late.

That expression usually meant something was about to happen.

“So,” Starloris said.

Zephar immediately sighed.

“No.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“You were about to.”

Starloris ignored him.

“We’re all best friends now, right?”

Valen nearly tripped.

Kisen looked over.

“That happened fast.”

“We’re going on a rescue mission together,” Starloris said, as if that settled everything. “That feels pretty official.”

Zephar rubbed his forehead.

“You did this to me too.”

“And look how well that turned out.”

Zephar stared at him.

Starloris smiled.

Valen tried not to laugh.

He failed.

Kisen shrugged.

“I’ve had worse ways to make friends.”

Starloris pointed at him.

“See?”

Zephar kept walking.

“You’re impossible.”

“Best friends,” Starloris corrected.

Rikk was waiting near the edge of town.

The small kobold stood beneath the shadow of an old stone archway, his hood pulled low over his face.

When he saw them, his ears lifted.

For a moment, he only stared.

Then he looked at Valen.

“You came.”

Valen nodded.

“We did.”

Rikk looked at the others.

Starloris.

Zephar.

Kisen.

His expression tightened slightly.

“Four?”

Kisen shrugged.

“Apparently we travel in packs now.”

Rikk clearly did not understand him.

“That’s probably for the best,” Zephar said.

Valen stepped closer.

“Can you take us to the ruins?”

Rikk’s expression changed.

The fear returned.

He looked toward the distant tree line.

Then nodded.

“Come.”

He turned toward the forest.

Everyone followed.

They hadn’t known each other for long.

Somehow, together, it already felt like nothing could stop them.